Silverstone Superbike: Sykes Tops Friday

Kawasaki Racing’s Tom Sykes, the man who has taking pole in seven out of nine World Superbike rounds so far this season, was was quickest during the first day of qualifying at Silverstone in the UK Friday.

Competing at his home race, Sykes took the provisional pole after posting a 2:06.115 during the 45-minute qualifying (Q1) session. But only 0.035 of a second behind was the man who doubled at Silverstone last year – Althea Ducati’s Carlos Checa.

Checa, who led Friday morning’s practice session, was followed by newly-signed Pata Racing Ducati rider Sylvain Guintoli, who competed on the Liberty Racing Team Effenbert Ducati up until Silverstone, round 10 of 14 in the 2012 World Superbike Championship.

But although third, Guintoli couldn’t quit match the pace of Sykes’ ZX-10R or the reigning World SBK champ’s 1198R; Guintoli trailed Sykes by 0.461 of a second. Taking the final provisional front-row position was local favorite Leon Camier on the FIXI Crescent Suzuki GSX-R 1000; the Brit was just over a half-second slower than Sykes.

Heading up the provisional second row will be yet another British rider, ParkingGO MTC Racing Aprilia’s Chaz Davies. He will be joined by Libery Racing Team Effenbert Ducati’s Jakub Smrz, Aprilia Racing Team’s Eugene Laverty and PATA Racing Team Ducati’s Lorenzo Zanetti.

The top 11 riders during Q1 at Silverstone were within a second of each other, with BMW Motorrad Italia GoldBet’s Ayrton Badovini being the final rider to post within a second of Sykes.

And besides Checa and Sykes, the other top riders on top in points didn’t perform so well on Friday; BMW Motorrad’s Marco Melandri, currently second in points, ended up 12th quickest. As for the series’ leader, Aprilia Team’s Max Biaggi, the 2010 WSBK Champ finished 17th quickest Friday, though that’s usually part of Biaggi’s strategy as he works bike setup over lap time.